22 July 2010 4:27 PM

Mercury Music Prize - is this the dullest shortlist yet?

Every summer the announcement of the shortlist for the
Mercury Music Prize has critics bemoaning
the panel's choices. The mainstream's advocates bemoan the lack of any
commercially successful acts while the leftfield orientated press whinge
that there is not enough cutting-edge music being recognised.

The Mercury Music Prize was created in 1992 in order to recognise the
best British or Irish album of the year. In contrast to the Brit
Awards, sales were not a factor for inclusion on the shortlist.

Indeed,
one objective seemed to be to highlight artists that might otherwise be
overlooked. An admirable ideal, but one which the panel of judges (drawn
from critics, producers and other music industry stalwarts) has adhered
to inconsistently.

You only have to look at the inexplicable decision in 1994 to give
the award to the execrable Elegant Slumming from M People over Blur's
Parklife to see that the Mercury committee has not always been dealing
from a full deck. And don't get me started on Speech Debelle's ludicrous win last year.

This year's list is not so bad but it's very predictable. The Xx would be worthy winners but then so would Paul Weller with his finest album for years. But where are the surprises? Where are the mavericks? Where's the recognition of dubstep, the UK's newest vibrant branch of dance music?

And where are Frightened Rabbit? OK, so they have a terrible name but their album, The Winter Of Mixed Drinks, was one of the finest of the last year. If you like rough-edged guitar music, with sumptuous melodies and intelligent lyrics this is the band for you. Check them out here and tell me that they shouldn't have been on the shortlist.

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